First Beach Day of 2013

The sun is finally out in Chicago!!!  Although it may be a bit early to shed the winter parkas, due to the nasty wind, we are getting that springtime feeling!

Blue sky over the Hancock Building on my way to work!

Last night we broke out the bikes and rode on the Lake Shore Trail.  It was fantastic!! Hunky, Mocha, and I bundled up and got on the bikes for the first time since the fall.  Mocha was a little hesitant to get back in her basket on my bike, but after we made it to the dog beach she was okay.  We were having so much fun until the sun went down - then we rode as fast as we could back home to avoid freezing. (There are no photos from this fun adventure as I was not going to be taking my mittens off for fear of loosing fingers to cold)

This morning we revived another one of our warm weather rituals - a walk to the local beach.  Dogs are happily welcome there before 9 am when the beach is open.  I guess this time of year, since it is not officially open, you might be able to stay all day.  If Mocha had her way we would probably stay there forever.

Mocha and Webster BBF

Little Mocha Bean has become quite the social butterfly.  She and her friend Webster are so stinking cute together!

When we moved to the city we were sure to have Mocha around other dogs as much as possible in order to socialize her.  Thank goodness we did - she is still just as loving, friendly, and playful as she was when we first brought her home.  Unless of course you're the Mastiff that lives in our building - then she is terrified - and I'm not going to lie when Bella rears up on her back legs to try and play with Mocha I'm a bit terrified too!

Dog Sitting & Brown Pigeon Giveaway Winner

I had every intention of ending the brownpigeon giveaway last night at 8:00 EST... BUT that didn't happen because of our little friend in the photo below.


Meet Mona.Mona belongs to a friend of mine who went away on vacation. Another friend, Sarah, and I have been taking turns taking care of Mona for the past 11 days. I had her over the weekend and ended up taking her to my parent's house so that she could be in the company of other dogs.

She peed on my parent's new bedroom carpet 8 times.

We then stopped at Hunky's because I live in a pet free building. While we were at dinner last night she dug a hole in the carpet... Yup. Then my computer refused to boot up. Both of these things plus having my thesis due dates looming caused me to spend last night breaking out in hives and crying.

I don't think I am ready for a puppy yet.

Anyway - the brownpigeon giveaway was a HUGE success! Due to my emotional breakdown last night all 187 entries are counting.

The winner - thanks to Random.org is #19 Beau!! Congrats!

Here's the winning comment! Beau, I'll be contacting you via e-mail shortly...

Thanks to all who entered! Stay tuned for a new giveaway to begin tomorrow!

p.s. Even if you didn't win the brownpigeon giveaway you can still save 10% using code STUNNING10!

Ziggy the Wiener Dog

To say that Hunky & I are wiener dog people might be a bit of an understatement... I might even pick up one of these sweet little plush Dachshunds from blackbirdfashion for Hunky's Birthday - Doesn't every 23 year old male have of these on their wish list..?

Colorful Cubes Bow Tie Dog Collar

In June Hunky and I plan on adding a little miniature dachshund to our little family. Even though I haven't met the little guy yet I'm sure this bow tie dog collar from SillyBuddy would be simply fabulous!

Wednesday = List Day...

I think this week's TO DO list is a record breaker... I am almost to the back of my sticky note...

I am almost thinking of starting another one... but I get such joy out of crossing things off a huge list!

So things that need to be done soon are... wrapping my dad's birthday present, studying for 2 tests next week and finishing a project that's due Wednesday...

The project due Wednesday is going to be awesome! Christie and I are working on the Brody Cafeteria renovation. Our color scheme is blues and greens, although we were trying to go for purples - blue and green just kept showing up everywhere and we took it as a sign! We spent most of the afternoon working on refining the floor plan and working on elevations and perspective drawings. Christie is the best AUTO-CAD person I've ever seen --- just so quick and confident. I am average - hence why she does the CAD and I work on the furniture and finishes.... This is what I did today:













Our inspiration for this project is the era of the 1950s when the cafeteria was originally built. We used a lot of classic shapes that came around during that period. I am so excited to use the Eames plastic chairs - I am sitting in one right now - It's just amazing what you can pick up at a rummage sale! Of course all of these selections will be different colors - but stock photos only come in a few colors....

I am pretty much set on my graphic design logo... I am very excited about this as I was having a very hard time getting started on the project. After I have it critiqued tonight I'm sure I'll post it!

A very neat thing has started happening with the abused dog my boyfriend's roommates adopted... Wilma is no longer terrified of me... She's only been around since last June - it's taken her that long to warm up to me. And what else would one do when a dog that is afraid of everyone decides to like you? TAKE PICTURES TO PROVE IT! Wilma and I have had many a photo shoot recently and I am going to leave you with one of our

lovely shots!

Ok.. so she's really not into making faces---- but I am!


Off to make dinner - so I'm not late for class!